Disinformation, social inequalities and young people’s digital citizenship during conflict and crisis in Ethiopia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21203666 |
|---|---|
| Authors | K Pincock (0000-0002-8263-7720, corresponding author), Kassahun Tilahun, Nicola Jones (0000-0002-9164-7947) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-16 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Information Technology & Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1933-169X • E-ISSN: 1933-1681 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/19331681.2026.2697180 |
| OpenAlex | W7167056922 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
This article explores how gender, rural – urban and regional inequalities in youth digital citizenship shape political participation during conflict. Drawing on multiple rounds of longitudinal qualitative research with young people in Ethiopia during and after the 2020–2022 ethnic conflict in the north, we show that key facets of digital citizenship – including access to online information, digital literacy skills, and opportunities for offline verification and political participation – are distinctly shaped by gender and geography. These inequalities both facilitate the spread of misinformation and disinformation that deepens polarization and distrust among youth, and also exclude young women from political participation, online and offline
Citizenship · Context (archaeology) · Gender inequality · Inequality · Politics · Social inequality · Social media · African history and culture analysis · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Social Media and Politics
The Digital Disconnect
Role of social media in Ethiopias recent political transition
Truth in the Crossfire
Understanding digital citizenship in everyday life
Rethinking digital skills in the era of compulsory computing
Vulnerable people’s digital inclusion
Digital inequalities in the Internet of Things
Social media, protest, & outrage communication in Ethiopia
Internet use, spatial variation and its determinants among reproductive age women in Ethiopia
Youth agency in urban peace-building
Children and digital misinformation
Politicizing participatory culture at the margins
An epistemic proxy war? Popular communication, epistemic contestations and violent conflict in Ethiopia
Lost futures? Educated youth precarity and protests in the Oromia region, Ethiopia
Digital citizenship in a global society
Who survived? Ethiopia's regulatory crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs
Social media for diffusion of conflict & violence in Ethiopia
Access granted
Tigray war
Protest, Internet Activism, and Sociopolitical Change in Sub-Saharan Africa
Contemporary Comparative Anthropology - The Why We Post Project
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |